Music Box
by Kittycat-popko
Summary: Sarah is now 25, and is a well known actor on stage. But what happens when she finds a music box with a haunting melody from her past? SarahxJareth. Jareth and Sarah may be slightly OOC, this is my first try rated M to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Labyrinth Fanfiction

Sarah is now 25, and is living her childhood dream; she is a well known actor on stage. But what happens when she finds a music box with a haunting melody from her past? SarahxJareth. Jareth and Sarah may be slightly OOC, this is my first try

Sarah walked down the hall, the skirt of her dress sweeping behind her as she headed towards her dressing room. Why was it that every time she thought she had escaped it, the past came rushing back? She had made it as an actress onstage, usually acting in fairytales or plays with a strong fantasy theme. Love stories were her favorite.

She may have grown up from that young, childish child, but she had never let go of her fairytales. She felt like laughing every time she remembered how she was at fifteen. Oh, how melodramatic she was! She was asked to wash the dishes, and she'd grumble to herself about being a slave for an hour!

Unfortunately, as well as keeping her fairytales, it seemed she was destined to keep her past as well. Just when she thought she had left it b, to just forget it, her manager had informed her of a play he had signed her up to; the Labyrinth. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time; she was to act as herself. The name was different of course, but it was still the role that she had lived, ten years ago. Of course the only one's who knew that were Toby, though he was too young at the time to remember it, Jareth, but he wasn't about to tell anybody, at least not anybody mortal, and herself.

Sarah sighed. At least she would act well; all she had to do is remember her own experience. She tugged at the sleeve of her dress nervously. She was wearing a dress similar to the one of that fateful day, when she was acting in the park. She had fussed a ridiculous amount over every little detail; although she would have rather not be reminded of her time in the labyrinth, she couldn't stand seeing things inaccurate. Finally, it had looked as close as it could possibly get to the real thing.

'Ludo', 'Sir Didymus' and 'Hoggle' were slightly off, and 'Jareth' wasn't as frightening or as handsome as the real – wait. She did not just think that. Sarah shook her head sharply, pushing her way into her room.

She sat down at her dressing table and glared at her reflection wearing the heavy – and annoying – make-up, before she noticed the music box. She picked it up, marveling at its beauty.

It was covered in pale cream silk embroidered with small pale pink and purple flowers. At the front it had a large centerpiece of embroidery featuring beautiful pink and purple tulips. To finish it off, it had intricate gold edging.

Although she was surprised at the quality of the music box, she was not surprised it was here. It was well known amongst her fans that she had acquired a love of music boxes.

She located the key and wound the box up, sighing as a beautiful – yet strangely haunting and familiar – tune drifted out. She began to hum along, but memory intruded and she sat upright, gazing at the box in fear as she remembered just where she had heard the tune.

~Flashback~

"_Toby!" she shouted, watching the baby crawl up some stairs, as she desperately tried to find a way to him in the puzzle that was the Escher room. She took off, trying to block out that damned voice. Jareth was singing, his beautiful voice cutting through her every thought, making it next to impossible to think._

_She wanted the singing to stop, yet she wished for it to continue. His words, filled with anger, pain and something else she couldn't identify cut her, and she became even more desperate as she felt her resolve slipping. Time was running out._

~End flashback~

Sarah was jolted out of her daydream, and she blinked at the mirror, wondering what had distracted her. She could still hear Jareth's voice singing in her head… her eyes widened and she whirled around, coming face to face with the very man who haunted her thoughts.

"Hello Sarah" Jareth said quietly Sarah shrunk back into her chair, terrified, but with a sharp mental shake she gathered her wits. He had no power over her. She must remember that.

"What do you want?" she asked, relieved that her voice was relatively steady.

"It's been such a long time" Jareth began

"Ten years"

"Yes. And I decided I'd visit to see how you're getting along. Do you like my present?"

"It's a lot better than the crystal ball you offered me that night. Or the ones you kept leaving on my pillow all the time"

"Each of you birthdays. You've still got them, haven't you?" Jareth said, stalking towards her. Sarah stood up, not wanting to be trapped in the chair. She took refuge behind the desk she sat at to read. Jareth simply laughed. "You can't escape from me Sarah"

"You have no power over me" She said, her voice wavering. Jareth frowned suddenly, scaring Sarah out of her wits.

"I know" he said in a low voice.

Sarah closed her eyes in relief. When she opened them, Jareth was gone. She looked around the room, then behind her, expecting him to be somewhere she couldn't see him, but he was really gone. Just then, a knock came on the door, "five minutes miss" a stage hand called. Sarah took a deep breath, and sent herself into the state of mind of when she was fifteen.

**Chapter O****ne**

"Well I guess I'll go down"

Sarah was in the 'hole' with the helping hands, which were really extra's with their hands through holes in the wood. A few of them were actors, who would speak when the hands made the faces. The play was going beautifully, and Sarah was starting to forget about her encounter with Jareth.

"She chose down!" one of the hand 'faces' said.

"Was that wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Too late now" another 'face' said.

She was lowered into the mock oubliette a great deal more gently than she had been in real life.


	2. Chapter 2 confrontation

**Chapter O****ne**

"Well I guess I'll go down"

Sarah was in the 'hole' with the helping hands, which were really extra's with their hands through holes in the wood. A few of them were actors, who would speak when the hands made the faces. The play was going beautifully, and Sarah was starting to forget about her encounter with Jareth.

"She chose down!" one of the hand 'faces' said.

"Was that wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Too late now" another 'face' said.

She was lowered into the mock oubliette a great deal more gently than she had been in real life. They lights dimmed and were finally shut off as a pair of the 'hands' slid a grate over the bottom of the 'hole', plunging the stage and audience into darkness. Sarah kneeled there waiting for 'hoggle' to come help her. The actor playing hoggle was twice as tall as hoggle really was, but there were no other actors short enough that could play hoggle as well as Jack could.

A few seconds before hoggle was due to arrive, Sarah began to feel woozy. Colors began to dance in front of her eyes, and her head was swimming. She let out a low moan, too low for anyone to hear, and fell unconscious.

The audience watched in anticipation as 'Hoggle' lit up the oubliette. Confusion, then panic ensued. Sarah was gone.

Jareth watched Sarah sleep in the real oubliette through one of his crystal balls, twirling three others in his left hand absentmindedly. Good, she had drunk the water. He had used his Fae magic to drug it like he done to the peach ten years ago, except this time, instead of transporting her into the crystal ball he sent her and making her forget should she escape, it made her fall asleep and then transported her here.

She had changed, his Sarah. He had watched her grow, watched her throw out the toys and costumes and replace them with books, boring, non-fiction books. He had watched jealously as she brought home boyfriends, but satisfied that she never let them get any further than a kiss. But he wouldn't let them stay with her for long, should they get any ideas, and so he would scare them off within a few weeks to a couple of months.

Sarah lost her childish demeanor, stopped saying those words he loved the most, 'it's not fair' and excelled so fast in acting that many a time he found himself foiling sabotage. The acting business, he had learned, was more treacherous than even his labyrinth.

She had also lost a bit of her calm composure she had as a child, when facing him, although her reaction cold have just been because she was certain she would never see him again. He couldn't figure out just what prompted him to talk to her, or to bring her here, but he had, and now he had to find an excuse. He wasn't planning to tell her why unless he absolutely had to, which gave him a little more time. Thinking about it a little longer, he supposed it was the desire to win that made him do it. He wasn't happy that she had beaten him, and that little reminder from her had angered him.

"She's waking" he murmured, watching her shift, her eyelids fluttering. This caused a stir among the goblins in the throne room, who ran around shouting his words. "Shut up" Jareth said, "the whole world doesn't need to know". They quieted down. "Well, well Sarah, we are about to meet in my domain for the second time. And this time, I'll be the one who wins."

"Ohhh… Ow" Sarah sat up slowly, groaning as pain shot through her neck. She blinked sleepily, wondering why it was so cold onstage. She realized where she was in a matter of seconds. "Oh god" she whispered. She wasn't scared, nor was she surprised. Trust Jareth to do something like this. "Damnit!"

"Damn what?" a velvety voice came from the darkness.

"You! Damn you Jareth! Why the hell did you bring me here?"

"It seems you've developed a bit of a foul mouth" Jareth said, his amusement evident in his tone. Sarah could imagine him smirking, watching her in the darkness.

"Like you haven't heard it before" she muttered, and Jareth chuckled.

Suddenly, the oubliette lit up, and she was blinded. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed that she couldn't see him. She took a step backwards, and hit something hard… and warm. Gloved hands grasped her arms and spun her around, and she glared up at Jareth's smug face.

"let me go" she said, but as she expected, he did not comply. Instead, his grin only widened. "so help he Jareth, if you don't let me go I'll-" she began, but he cut her off.

"You'll what?" he asked mockingly, but he released her. She took a few steps backward, not stopping until she was out of arms reach.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

"Because you challenged me. I don't like to lose Sarah" She opened her mouth to reply, but he continued. "You are the first person to beat my labyrinth, and so you presented me with a challenge; you. I was prepared to leave it a little longer, to let you finish the play, but you said those words, those damnable words, challenging me. So this time, you're facing the Labyrinth again, on my terms. This time, the stakes will be higher" He finished, his serious, intense expression scaring her.

She desperately tried to salvage her wits from the rubble he had left her self control in, tried to stop herself from cowering there in front of him. He had taken her here, to run the labyrinth? What were the stakes? Her curiosity overtook her, an overwhelming desire to know the stakes. His intentions would be clear once she knew what she was playing for, what would happen if she lost.

She took a large breath, steeling herself for the answer Jareth would give, knowing that with his unpredictability, it could be anything.

"What are the stakes?"


	3. Authors Note

Authors Note:

I hate to say this, but I'm not continuing this. I just can't get anything written. Sooooo… I'm offering it up for 'adoption'.

Anyone can take on this story (and not limited to one person) and continue it as they like.

I only ask that you

A) Keep the two chapters just as they are

B) Credit me in the story

And C) let me know so I can read it :D

I really want to know what people would do with this, as I'm afraid I just can't get the ideas flowing for it and it's just collecting dust at the moment.

KittyCat


End file.
